Run Forrest Run

While my friend was in town over the weekend we got talking. She just turned 30 last month and one of her goals has been to run the half marathon (a whopping 13.1 miles) of the Manitoba Marathon before turning 31. Since it only happens once a year – on fathers day – it has to be this year. We had a bet a few years back but neither of us competed on it. So I told her this year I will run with/against her. I’ve done the leisurly 13.1 mile run through Winnipeg before. My personal best of 1:41:23 (something like that) was years ago. I ran my first one back in 1991 and a few in between. The most recent completion was probably about 4 years ago in 2:30 and change…yikes!

So the conversation continued over glasses of wine and bottles of beer and I said that running a full, yes that 26.2 mile trek, is something I’ve always wanted to do. Living in Calgary gives me a distinct advantage in the “train high, compete low” aspect. Air is thinner at a higher altitude so the body must work harder. When competing at a lower altitude the air contains more O2 and thus the body works less…at least in theory. One of the lowest places I know of is Hawaii and I’ve known a few people that have run the Honolulu Marathon. So a quick Google search showed that this year the Honolulu Marathon is on Sunday, December 13.

It really seems like a great training schedule has already been developed. Train for a 13.1 mile race in the Manitoba Marathon on Sunday, June 21 followed by almost 6 months of additional training for the Honolulu Marathon on Sunday, December 13. Who knows, I might just have to toss in the Maui Marathon on Sunday, September 20. Really, it’s just another excuse to hit the island paradise!

So watch the “Fitness” category for training tips and my journey as it slowly un-folds. And of course, feel free to plan some trips to Hawaii in the last half of ’09 and perhaps we can meet up on the course!

This entry was posted on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 at 10:37 am and is filed under Fitness, Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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